Nine Times Over
by CreativeAesthetic
Summary: CHALLENGE ACCEPTED Picked up from EDelta88 Naruto is on a mission when one of his opponents alters the seal containing the Kyuubi, causing a major malfunction. His mind is set back, and his body transforms drastically, his behavior animalistic. How will he become himself again? Rated M for future chapters, NaruHina is life


**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, that right belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.**

This story is NaruHina, if you're not a fan of the pairing, instead of wasting your time and mine, move along and read something you'll enjoy, please and thank you!

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Uzumaki Naruto, eighteen years of age, next in line for Hokage of Konohagakure, bounced at high speed between a few enemy Oto ninja, confusing the group as to where their attacker was. Each of them held his position, either being hit by or parrying the quick blonde's punches and kicks. Finally, the group of five bunched together, each with their back to the others as they stood in a tight circle formation. One of them with his face overed in bandages, save for his eyes had been following the adolescent's movements and had caught a rough pattern of attacks. He prepared a jutsu behind his back, waiting for the black and orange clad Konoha nin to show back up. With his sensory ability on high alert, the leader of the Oto squad had felt where Naruto would pop up again and quickly jabbed with his jutsu-laden fingers, each one tipped with a small purple flame, making a connection with the opposing blonde's stomach and throwing him off of his game quite a bit. Naruto shouted in pain and was thrown back by the impact of the movement, crashing into a nearby tree as his teammates arrived.

"Naruto!" A pink haired kunoichi interrupted the Oto non from advancing on her friend with a chakra filled punch, hitting one of them dead on and causing the rest to scatter. The opponent she had impacted flew back into a tree himself, but he didn't stop until he hit the third one, the two before it crashing down as he slumped to the ground, dead. With her teeth clenched and bared, she faced the other four enemies and cracked her knuckles before settling into an attack stance. Naruto, now behind her, lifted himself up off the ground, albeit a bit shaky, and leaned on the tree he had been slammed against, his bandaged arm wrapped around his midsection as he panted heavily. He could feel something was wrong, but he was determined to finish this battle before he worried about it. Another Leaf ninja entered the scene dramatically;

"Dynamic Entry!" A swirl of leaves and green jumpsuit blasted the remaining four Oto nin dumb enough to bunch together for defense, sending them each in different directions and into the brush around the group of fighters. Sakura balled up a fist and slammed it into the ground, causing a very large crater and an earthy prison for the ninjas of sound.

"S-Stop!" A frantic voice called out from the bushes.

"Y-yeah, we surrender!"

"Hmph." Naruto grunted, his head leaning back on the tree. "Cowards."

"Better that they surrender anyway." Rock Lee gave his signature smile and thumbs up to his teammates before he realized the blonde was in pain. "Naruto-kun, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine once we get home. I'm starved." He gave a grin to his friend and brushed off the pain in his stomach, making a mental note to get in contact with Tsunade as soon as he could.

As the trio made it home, they passed the prisoners on to the gate keepers, who called for the T&I leads to come and gather them for questioning. They reported to Hatake Kakashi, the Rokudaime, leaving out no details, except for Naruto, who neglected to mention the jutsu that was affecting him. He wasn't about to look weak in front of his mentor and predecessor.

When the Hokage dismissed them, Naruto was feeling a lot worse, he could feel himself starting to sweat, even though it was mid fall. He wasted no time in getting home, hoping he could just rest off the bad feeling in his stomach. By the time he collapsed in his bed, he was panting and felt very weak.

"This... can't be good..." he groaned as what he recognized to be Kurama's chakra started swirling around him without his call. He was too weak to stop it, and panic began to set in. "K-Kurama..."

What he didn't realize was that the jutsu that had been landed on him directly affected his seal, and had destroyed the pattern that separated him from the Kyuubi. The chakra thickened around him, pain wracked his body, causing him to curl up and groan loudly. He panted heavily, feeling suddenly like his body had been set ablaze, and just as the pain became unbearable, he shouted out, a burst of the dark energy washing over the whole village. At that point, Naruto blacked out completely.

Weeks pass, and the ninjas that considered the blonde a friend began to worry. No one had seen or heard from him since his last mission, and it was drawing confusion and worry from his friend group, especially Hyuuga Hinata.

Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura met up with the navy-haired heiress at the ramen stand he would normally dine at, Ichiraku's.

"Still no sign of him?" Ino asked the shy teen, who could only hang her head sadly.

"Something had to have happened during that mission we went on and he didn't tell anyone. I really hope... that he's okay..." The pink haired girl frowned and placed a hand on her worried friend's shoulder. "I-I'm sure he is, I just hope he comes out of hiding soon. You tried his apartment?"

"Y-yes..." Hinata replied, sighing deeply. "He's not there..."

"He's gotta be _somewhere_." Ino spoke up, then turned to Sakura. "Maybe we should ask the Hokage? Naruto could have been sent on a mission right after you guys got back."

"Yeah, he could have." The other replied, but didn't look hopeful about it.

"I-I'll go ask." The bluenette volunteered as she immediately started toward the tallest tower in the village.

"Let us know what you find out!" Sakura called after her. Her eyes showed a deep concern for her friends, which was not missed by her current companion.

"You really think he's okay?" The blonde girl asked.

"I hope so..."

As the heiress reached the Hokage's office, her heart was pounding. She was scared of what she would find out, but wanted to know badly enough that she quelled her anxiety and knocked on the door.

"Enter." A voice called from behind the wooden fixtures, and she did as told. "Ahh, Hinata. What brings you here?"

"U-umm... well, you see..." The young woman clasped her hands together behind her back, "I-I haven't... seen or heard from Naruto-kun since..."

Kakashi sighed at her pause, and nodded as he put his pen down. "Since his last mission."

Hinata gulped and nodded, hoping the Hokage would be able to answer her query.

"And... I suppose you're worried about him."

Another nod. Another sigh from the man behind the desk.

"Hinata..." He rubbed his forehead as he thought about what to say next. Then he stood. "You better just follow me..."

The sadness in the Rokudaime's voice made her chest ache with panic, but she followed him out of the office and through the corridors of the Hokage Tower. The pair headed down several flights of stairs, an ominous feeling creeping over the Hyuuga princess as they landed on the bottom step.

"W-what's going on?" She asked, fear obviously lacing her tone.

"You will see." He continued down the empty corridor of jail cells, toward the end of the hall where a single lamp sat on a pedestal in front of the very last set of bars. "We had to extend and expand this last cell when... when it happened."

Fear rose up again in the girl's chest as she raised a hand to fiddle with the zipper of her jacket. She said nothing, knowing he would not verbally answer her questions. As they approached the last cell, a deep growl resonated off the walls of the corridor, and every hair on Hinata's body stood on end. The two of them stopped about twenty feet from the end and Kakashi turned to the young kunoichi.

"He's... not the same." He vaguely explained. "Just be careful..."

The older ninja, and in this moment, fellow friend of the blonde, placed his hand briefly on her shoulder before turning and heading back down the hall, his head hung low and hands deep in his pockets. Hinata turned from the silver haired man to the end of the hallway where a heavy aura radiated. she took a deep breath before proceeding with a slow and quiet exhale. Five feet before the bars, she stopped, hesitating for just a moment. Another deep growl reverberated around her, and she could feel it vibrate her skin, goosebumps covering her arms as she closed her eyes to prepare herself for what she might see. Before finishing the next two steps, she called out quietly, "Naruto-kun?"

The growling sound stopped abruptly, and she could feel the aura nearing, the sound of heavy sniffing coming with it as she decided to finally close the gap between her and the bars of the cell. When she turned to look at him, they both froze. His hair was red, she first noticed. And it was all over his body. Well, the parts she could see, and except his face. The whisker marks on his cheeks were thicker and there were fox ears on the top of his head. And his eyes were blood red with slits for pupils.

"Oh, Naruto-kun..." she whispered as she fell to her knees with the final realization. Nine tails swayed behind him as he watched her motionlessly. He was crouched in an animalistic position.

"W-what happened to you...?" Her voice came out in a quivery manner as her upeyes welled up. She raised a hand to cover her mouth as a tear rolled down her cheek, and the transformed adolescent sniffed her way, then slowly crept closer on all fours. To him, her scent smelled familiar, lavender and honey. He knew this scent from somewhere and it calmed him, so he made the conclusion that she wasn't a threat. He came forward a little more bravely, sniffing all the way, wondering why sadness radiated so strongly from the human female before him. His red eyes sized her up from five feet away, judging whether or not he could come any closer. When he saw the pale eyed girl place her hand on the bars, he decided to extend himself, leaning forward enough to almost touch her hand with his nose. Hinata watched him, the fear no longer present as this seemingly docile version of a human Kyuubi came close enough for her to touch, but waited for his lead, hoping maybe she could do something to coax his personality out. She missed his loud boisterous laugh, his proclamations of being the next Hokage, his rambling about the last mission he went on. Slowly, she reached beyond the bars, watching as he simply observed her out stretched hand, allowing her to gently touch the side of his face. He retracted for just a second, the fox ears angling back as he grunted and eyed her appendage. She made no movement and waited to see what happened. She trusted him, even now in the state he was in, she trusted him with her life. He eventually leaned forward and rubbed the top of his head against her palm with a soft grumble, deciding that he liked the subtle and gentle female. Hinata couldn't help but smile behind her tears, and that wasn't missed by the creature causing it. He shifted closer to the bars, her hand still on his head, scratching behind his ear, and he leaned on the wall, his gaze locked with hers as he let his eyes droop closed. He was tired. It had been a long time since he had been able to sleep, and this girl that seemed to want to be near him and calmed him down considerably, compared to anyone else that had tried coming down here, brought relaxation to his body and mind.

As his eyes closed, Hinata continued to pet the jinchuuriki, using her other hand to wipe her eyes, having stopped crying since Naruto had let her touch him. She looked him over a little more closely now. He was wearing his mission gear, minus the kunai and shuriken pouches and his black and orange jacket was torn at the seams of the shoulders. His pants had definitely seen better days, ripped here and there from what she could only assume to be the transformation. He was a little bigger than when she had last seen him just before the mission he went on a few weeks ago. The tails behind him twitched periodically as he rested, and she reluctantly decided to pull her hand back from the bars. Seeing that he wasn't waking up any time soon, Hinata decided with a quiet sigh that she needed to go home and rest as well. She was emotionally exhausted from the panic of not having seen him for for three weeks, not to mention the panic and crying from this evening.

Quietly, she stood, her heart aching with regret already for having made the choice to leave him here by himself. But she had also decided that she would visit every chance she could. The Hyuuga heiress was determined to see if there was anything that could bring back at least his consciousness and personality, if not his appearance. She still loved him, and was prepared to stay by his side even now to ensure that he wouldn't be alone. Something she wished she could have done in their childhood.

As she made her way back up the stairs that Kakashi had led her down to see him, her thoughts wandered to how something like this could be fixed. Or even if it could be.

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**Author's note**

Wow, okay, haha

So this is the first story I've written in quite a while. This chapter's a little short just to give a little taste of what it's gonna be like.

I actually picked this idea up from another story I read quite similar to it. It's another NaruHina fanfic on here, Naruto of the Nine Tails by Edelta88, it's really good, and I love it. So basically in their story, they give a little challenge to see if someone can write the lot better than they can. I'll be honest, I'm not confident about that, but I love a good plot, and I had to give it a try.

Anyways, let me know what you think! If there are areas I could improve in, please don't be afraid, I'm always open to constructive criticism. No bashing, please, it's a waste of both of our times, if you didn't catch that on the head note.


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